Evidence of rescue of Jewish children by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky to be collected in Lviv

On February 5, the Embassy of Israel in Ukraine jointly with the Lviv City Council held a ceremony honoring six families from Lviv, Lviv, Volyn and Rivne regions, recognized as the Righteous among the Nations for the courageous rescue of the lives of Jews during the Holocaust. The ceremony took place in the Potocki Palace.

The celebration was attended by the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovy. In particular, he expressed the hope that Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky would also be awarded the title of Righteous among the Nations. This is reported by the press service of the Lviv City Council.

"I think it would be right for us to create a public council here in Lviv,  to collect more evidence of the sacrificial attitude that Metropolitan Andrey dislayed by saving Jewish children so that he would be recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations. It will be fair and just. I ask everyone to join and submit such information. This is very important," Sadovy said.

He recalled that economist and writer Kurt Levin, former Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld, and Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann were saved by Ukrainian Greek Catholics in the Univ Monastery thanks to Metropolitan Sheptytsky.

"There are hundreds, thousands of such stories, where Roman Catholics or Greek Catholics saved Jewish children. Very often this was done under the great patronage of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky — a man who is a symbol of Ukraine, and who has done a lot for our state," he said.

As RISU has reported, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Asman, together with representatives of the UGCC and academia, appealed to Yad Vashem with a request to confer on Metropolitan Sheptytsky the title of Righteous Among the Nations. The appeal was supported by the President of Ukraine.

However, they refused it, noting that they were ready to re-consider the appeal being provided with documents and certificates that were yet unknown and cover the activities of Andrey Sheptytsky during the war.

Background

Over the past 25 years, the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Ukraine have presented awards to 2,634 brave Ukrainians.

The title of the Righteous Among the Nations is the highest award of the state of Israel, which is conferred on persons who are not Jews and who risked their own lives to help Jews survive the Holocaust.

This title expresses the gratitude of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to those few who helped Jews during the darkest days in their history.

Yad Vashem was founded to commemorate the six million Jewish who fell victims of the Holocaust. One of the main duties of Yad Vashem is to express gratitude on behalf of the State of Israel and the entire Jewish nation to those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

They receive a medal and a certificate of honor, and their names are immortalized in Yad Vashem on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.